1. Gender and Politics

2. INTRODUCTION Gender Inequality.
Women’s participation in parties, unions, local governments, parliaments is very limited.
Why is it important to discuss the insufficiency of female participation in politics?
Politics greatly effects the distribution of resources.
How will the resources be acquired? Who will get what?
These are political decisions.
Women’s exclusion from the decision making mechanisms means that they don’t have much of a say in the distribution of resources.

3. Prıvate vs publıc sphere
Public sphere vs private sphere dichotomy
The feminist critique of the dichotomy between public and private “is central to almost two centuries of feminist writing and political struggle; it is, ultimately what the feminist movement is about”.

4. Prıvate vs publıc sphere
The terms “public” and “private,” and their underlying concepts, have been used for thousands of years, often as opposites to form the public/private dichotomy.
The concept of distinct public and private spheres can be traced back to the ancient Greeks.
They defined the public as the political realm where the direction of society and its rules and laws were debated and decided upon, and the private as the realm of the family and economic relations.

5. Prıvate vs publıc sphere
Why did feminists challenge this dichotomy?
The private sphere is the realm of family and home life that is, in theory, free of the influence of government and other social institutions.
In this realm, one's responsibility is to oneself and the other members of one's household, and work and exchange can take place within the home in a way that is separate from the economy of the greater society.

6. Prıvate vs publıc sphere
Women were almost uniformly excluded from participating in the public sphere when it first emerged, and so the private sphere, the home, was considered the woman's realm.
This is why, historically, women had to fight for the right to vote in order to participate in politics, and why gender stereotypes about women "belonging in the home" linger today. 

7. FIRST AND SECOND WAVE FEMINISM
Olympes de Gouge (d. 1791), Mary Wollstonecraft (d. 1797) and Jane Austen (d ) are foremothers of the modern women's movement. 
All of these people advocated for the dignity, intelligence, and basic human potential of the female sex.
However, it was not until the late nineteenth century that the efforts for women's equal rights evolved into a clearly identifiable and self- conscious movement, or rather a series of movements.

8. FIRST AND SECOND WAVE FEMINISM
The first wave of feminism took place in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, emerging out of an environment of urban industrialism and liberal, socialist politics. The goal of this wave was to open up opportunities for women, with a focus on suffrage.
In this period women aimed for
Rights for education for women
Right to vote
Property rights

9. FIRST AND SECOND WAVE FEMINISM
The second wave began in the 1960s and continued into the 90s. This wave unfolded in the context of the anti-war and civil rights movements and the growing self- consciousness of a variety of minority groups around the world.
The New Left was on the rise, and the voice of the second wave was increasingly radical. In this phase, sexuality and reproductive rights were dominant issues.

10. FIRST AND SECOND WAVE FEMINISM
Sex and gender were differentiated—the former being biological, and the later a social construct that varies culture-to- culture and over time.
Famous motto of the second wave feminism:
“Private is the political”.

11. GENDER INEQUALITY AND POLITICS
Women underrepresented in politics. Why?
Socioeconomic Factors:
Educational credentials (needed for leadership)
Higher education can also lead to higher voting participation
Labour force activity
Women who work outside the home tend to participate more actively in politics
A career brings more confidence and independence

12. Politıcal, socıoeconomıc and cultural determınants
The impact of certain occupations
Professional occupations such as lawyers, educators, journalists, business professionals tend to heavily overrepresented in the parliaments
They are likely to well-educated, practiced in public speaking and familiar with the political system and the law.

13. Politıcal, socıoeconomıc and cultural determınants
The size and strength of the women’s movement is another societal factor that may influence a country’s degree of gender inequality in political representation.
Nations with organizations that are active in pressing for social, political and economic inequality should tend to make more progress in these areas.
As a result, women are more likely to run for office and voters are more likely electing them.

14. Politıcal, socıoeconomıc and cultural determınants
Gender political equality will also be affected by a nation’s economic development.
More developed countries less concerned about concerns of economic growth and well- being and can create the space of discussing new things such as gender participation in politics

15. Politıcal, socıoeconomıc and cultural determınants
Development leads to weakening of traditional values , decreased fertility rates , increased urbanization, greater educational and labor force participation of women and changes in perceptions of the appropriate roles for women.

16. Politıcal, socıoeconomıc and cultural determınants
Cultural Factors:
Women may win greater political representation in nations where more liberal attitudes toward the role of women in politics prevail.
An egalitarian culture also has the potential to render the environment more favourable for women’s political representation in Scandinavia than is the case in other areas of Europe.

17. Politıcal, socıoeconomıc and cultural determınants
Religious doctrine may play an important role in shaping attitudes towards woman’s place in politics.
Studies show that Catholicism, which tends to emphasize traditional roles for women to be negatively related to women’s success.

18. Politıcal, socıoeconomıc and cultural determınants
Political Systems
Women are expected to be more succesful in politics in nations where voters choose among party lists in in multimember districts rather than among individual candidates in single-member districts.
Single member district is used in Canada, the lower house in India, the United Kingdom, and most elections in the United States.

19. Politıcal, socıoeconomıc and cultural determınants
Party lists in multimember districts: Central party organisations have significant influence over the nomination of candidates and they can give priority to women if they want to.
Women’s representation in politics changes according to the ideology of the political party
Leftist parties are expected to be more committed to reducing gender inequality.
The timing of suffrage rights also important. When did women gain the right to vote in a country plays a significant role in women’s representation in politics.

20. Politıcal, socıoeconomıc and cultural determınants
Level of democracy also very important
Democratic processes reduce the likelihood that artificial barriers can be imposed.

21. How can female partıcıpatıon ın polıtıcs ımproved? quotas
There are three dominant types of gender quota policies that are countries use:
Reserved Seats- establish seats that only women are eligible to compete for.
Party Quotas-are pledges by individual parties to aim for a particular proportion of women among their candidates to political office
Legislative Quotas -are mandatory provisions that apply to all political groupings that require a certain proportion of female candidates to address party selection.

22. How can female partıcıpatıon ın polıtıcs ımproved? quotas
Reserved seats regulate the number of women elected, the other two forms set a minimum for the share of women on the candidate lists, either as a legal requirement (no. 2) or a measure written into the statutes of individual political parties (no. 3). 

23. Quotas: crıtıcısms
Political representation should be in terms of ideas, not social identities.
Candidates selected solely due to their gender undermines the meritocracy we expect to see in politics.
The implementation of gender quotas may lead to conflicts within the party.

24. Quotas: supportıve arguments
Quotas do not discriminate, they simply try to correct the consequences of unjust representation.  
Quotas do not constitute a contradiction to meritocracy women are as talented and knowledgeable as men in politics. But women's talents are devalued in such a political system.